Honored? Vet? or Victim of History? Let's talk.

Throughout the United States and Canada, events are being held to commemorate the War of 1812; the festivities continue through 2015. According to the Ohio War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, amid the ceremonies, fundraising and many photo opportunities, there is supposed to be a whole lot of scholarship going on. [1]

I'm hoping that is the case, because in the Defiance, Ohio, area, old sheriff William Preston’s story is in need of a scholarly makeover, and things are not off to a good start for him.

While more than one memorial about the war mentions William, the most personal may be the new memorial tombstone and historical plaque at Maple Grove Cemetery (Williams County). These “honors” were placed on what has been separately described as his previously unmarked grave.  

Any number of society trustees and officers, town officials, authors and military historians collaborated on what is a beautiful memorial. I have interviewed those closest to the project to learn that no attempt was made to document the work. Sadly, the specifics on the memorial and plaque about William Preston’s military service, [2] migration, [3] death [4] and burial [5] are subject to material conflict.

Of great concern is the lack of diligence shown to place the memorial on the one-time sheriff’s supposed unmarked grave. It seems not his grave at all. Quoting below in particular part from an article by informant A. A. Geauque [6] said [7] to have first appeared in a 1923 edition of the Edgerton Earth.

"The cemetery [Maple Grove] was established in 1858. The first person buried was a young man, that year. This young man William Preston has no marker. On the same lot are his parents, William C. and Nancy Preston, who have marble slabs. This lot is near the northeast corner. A large evergreen is on the lot…”

By all accounts, including photographs of the gravesite area and cemetery inscriptions,[8] A. A. Geauque is writing about the unmarked grave now claimed by the memorial to the old sheriff, William Preston. This seems a further injustice to the young man there buried—for whatever small role he may have played in the area history has itself now been confused. Some would say it has been dismissed. 

Family history involves more than a collection of records containing names, dates and places, loosely or conveniently fitted together for one purpose or another. Students of the craft learn, sometimes the hard way, to reference and question every author, every source, indeed, every morsel of information considered in the evidence discovery process. Finally, however naturally inclined, we learn to document our work by memorializing the references and the logic and reasoning we used decipher the evidence and reach conclusions.  

While our voice is hard to hear above the pomp and circumstance, those who research the old sheriff have asked for the work on the tombstone to be documented.

We are waiting. 

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A War of 1812 monument for the sheriff - William Preston, b. 1780

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James Snow, Jr. (Ohio) entered the memorial to FindaGrave, which is actually how I found out about the headstone. The same day, one of our Michigan cousins and his 91-year old father, also a cousin, got in the car and drove to Maple Grove Cemetery to see the memorial. Graphics follow; the plaque reads as below: 

WILLIAM PRESTON

Sergeant, 2nd Regiment, Zumwalt's Ohio Militia

War of 1812

Born 1780 – Died 1837

William Preston served in the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812. After the war he returned to the area and lived in the old Fort Winchester, Defiance. He was among the first group of pioneers to settle in Williams County, marrying Asenath Butler in 1820. He was elected the first sheriff of Williams County, serving 1824-1829. He was elected to a second term, 1830-1836. Preston was appointed the county's first tax collector and road viewer in 1824, assessor in 1827. Preston moved to St. Joseph Township where he served as Justice of the Peace and Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1829. Preston died in 1837 and was buried in the Lost Cemetery near the village of Denmark, his body was moved to Maple Grove Cemetery, Edgerton, Oh. in 1858.

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[1] From the Commission website (http://warof1812.ohio.gov/ ), the work is intended to “foster a lasting legacy grounded in sound scholarship, thoughtful discussion, and the inclusion of diverse peoples and perspectives.”

[2] Whether or not William Preston, considered among the first settlers of the Defiance area, served in the War of 1812 is the subject of some debate. Separately, however, descendants of another William Preston claim the service memorialized on the tombstone is that of their ancestor. See Rosaline Preston and Carol Huber, The Preston/Lindsey Trail ([Warden, Washington: R. Preston], 1995), p. 14-15, for "William Preston & Susanna Miller," the former of whom therein said born 31 July 1782 at Spencertown, Albany County (now Hillsdale, Columbia County), New York, died 1875 at Freeport, Stephenson County, Illinois. (This this work was apparently updated by the authors, The Preston Lindsey Trail II, which has not been reviewed.)

[3] Willam Preston was enumerated at Defiance in the 1830 U.S. census, and his children born 1832 and 1835 claim Defiance, not St. Joseph, as their birthplace. 

For the 1832 birth of twins Henry Preston and George Preston see biographical sketch of the former in R. M. Corbit, History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present (Chicago: J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1910), 2: 92-93. [Collage/Graphic in “No Shortage of Inconsistencies."]

For the birth of James P. Preston, see M. A. Leeson, History of Montana Illustrated, 1739-1885 (1885); digital images, University of Montana, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library (http://www.lib.umt.edu/node/336 : accessed 2008), page 1089. [Collage/Graphic in “No Shortage of Inconsistencies."]

[4] No timely notice of his death has been located. Family tradition suggests he drowned in the Auglaize River. Whether he drowned or not, whether a body was recovered, even whether or not the death was witnessed are the subject of some debate. In evaluating the death, all the family circumstance should be considered. 

For notice of the drowning, see Gene Preston, Michigan, e-mail to GJ 29 Sept 2008, citing the genealogy journal of Sarah Asenath “Sena” (Preston) Stupka (1880-1963), copy privately held by Preston; Sena Stupka was the granddaughter of William Preston, born 1780, by his son, George Washington Preston (1832-1901). For similar information, see Preston History.pdf, MS; digital image; Richard Paul Springer collection, supplied by J. I. Springer, Nebraska, 2 March 2007, e-mail to GJ. Richard Springer was a descendant of Henry C. Preston (1832-1910). [Collage/Graphic in “No Shortage of Inconsistencies."]

I do cite as "proof" of death, the estate of William Preston, deceased (Case #74, 1839), Williams County, Ohio, pages supplied by Williams County Record Center to S. Smith, 2008; select digital imaged pages dated 1838, 1839 and 1868 supplied by S. Smith, e-mail of 10-11 June 2011. S. Smith is a descendant of Alice (Preston) VanWormer.  The estate file itself is not a substitute for and should not be confused with a genealogical proof that would be associated with a death that had been witnessed.   

Related comments referenced in Wm Smith, e-mail to GJ of 13 May 1997 and Gene Preston, e-mail to GJ of 20 Dec 2006 and 11 Sept 2008. Wm Smith is a descendant of James P. Preston. 

Still separately see the conflicting information and circumstance of the wife/widow’s remarriage and second family in (a) Thomas Spooner, Records of William Spooner, of Plymouth, Mass., and his descendants (1883) 1:246, 252-253; digital images, Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org : accessed 11 July 2011), entry for Asa Ruggles [Thomas], and comparatively (b)  “Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995,” database, FamilySearch   (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 11 July 2011), for Asa R. Thomas-Asenath Preston marriage, 26 Mar 1841, cites FHL film 927427 [“Birth, marriage and death records of Hillsdale County (Michigan)”].

[5] Lacking some evidence to support the notion that William Preston’s body was ever buried at Denmark, this claim is subject to debate.  Especially so given items [3] (migration) and [4] (death).

[6] For the purpose of this work, A. A. Geauque seems likely Adolphius A. “Adolph” Geauque (1845-1932) [among others, FindAGrave, Maple Grove Cemetery, Williams County, Ohio], apparent brother of Augustus L. Geauque (1834-1925) [among others, FindAGrave, also Maple Grove Cemetery].

In 1858, Augustus L. Geauque would have been the brother-in-law of the young man buried in the unmarked grave about which A. A. Geauque is writing. See Pamela Pattison Lash and Doris Brown Rath, Williams County, Ohio Marriage Records: Volumes I-III (Bryan, Ohio: Williams County Genealogical Society, 1984), indexed entry for Abigail Preston and Augustus Geaque, m. 3 Jan 1858, cites Williams County Marriages, II:185. See also, “You do the Math.”

[7] A. A. Geauque’s 1923 submission was republished as Paul Van Gundy, “Historical Corner,” Bryan (Ohio) Times, Thursday, January 15, 1976, p. 4, c. 2-3; digital images, Google News Archives (accessed 4 Aug 2012).

[8] James Snow, Jr. to GeneJ, “Re: Follow up and inquiry …,” e-mail of 29 June 2012, privately held by GJ (Arizona), including attached digital images of gravestones surrounding the William Preston memorial and transcriptions from the related cemetery book.

Honored? Vet? or victim of History? Let's talk. by GeneJ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://theycamebefore.blogspot.com/2012/08/honored-vet-or-victim-of-history-lets.html.